Unexpected visitors at the door
This morning, I was in the washroom about to take a shower. Then I heard a knock at the door downstairs. "Hmm," I thought to myself, "we're not expecting any deliveries. I really hope it isn't a salesman." I hurriedly put my pyjamas back on and went down to the front door commando-style.
I opened the front door to see two old ladies there, easy in their late 60's or early 70's. I knew exactly what was up. The lady at the front began to ask me some questions. (For the sake of brevity and clarity, I've omitted much of the pleasantries and banter that took place.)
Her: "Hello there! How are you doing?"
Me: "Well, I'm doing pretty well today, thanks."
Her: "Excellent. I don't think we've seen you before. Are you a university student?"
Me: {Do you have a photo directory of every person you visit?} "Yes, actually."
Her: "Oh, I love talking with university students. In fact, do you mind if I share a verse from the Bible with you? It's one I love sharing with students."
Me: {This will be interesting!} "Sure."
Now, this was my first time dealing with JW's during one of their door-knocking campaigns, and I was curious to know what their game plan would be.
She opened her Bible to John 17:6 in the New World Translation (the JW's incorrect translation of the Bible), which quotes Jesus as saying, "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world..." (NWT) (In reviewing my own Bible afterwards, however, I see that this has a different twist from what is in the more accurate NIV.)
Her: "Now, do you know what God's name is?"
Me: "I'm guessing that you're looking for the answer 'Jehovah'?"
She realised that I knew what I was talking about. She showed me a reference in the glossary at the back of her NIV showing that Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God) is translated to Jehovah in English.
Her: "So, you see, it's completely correct for us to use the name Jehovah for God in the Bible. Isn't it great that God loves us so much that he wants us to know His name?"
Me: "I think that's nice, but it's more important to have a loving relationship with God than to know what His precise name is."
Her: "What version of the Bible do you read?"
Me: "The NIV."
She rifled through her purse, looking amongst the many books in there for a Zondervan NIV. She had me inspect the binding to make sure that it was, in fact, the translation that I just indicated to her. She then began using it for some of the verses that she showed to me, and used her own NWT for others.
She showed me a few more verses about the name of God, including a corruption of the Lord's Prayer, which read "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified." (NWT, compare to NIV). She then moved on to the fact that Jesus was born of God.
Her: "What do you think about that?"
Me: "That Jesus is God's son? Well, according to John 1, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' It's like the Nicene Creed, which says that Jesus was begotten of the Father, of the same substance, and not born."
Her: "Well, if you look at John 1, you it says, 'In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.' (NWT) So you see, Jesus is a god separate from the Father."
Me: "But you're using a mistranslation of the Bible, so it's not accurate to say that Jesus was 'a god'; he was God from the beginning of time."
She could easily tell that I was not convinced.
Her: "What would be a good time to come back and talk with you about this?"
Me: "I'd prefer it if you didn't come back."
Her: {set back} "But I thought we were having a good conversation."
Me: "If you were to bring back a copy of the NWT for me to read through, I'd be more than happy to read it on my own."
Her: "But if you don't want to talk with us, then why would you want to have a copy?"
Me: "If you give me a copy, I will take a look at it."
Her: "Well, thank you for your time. It was nice talking with you."
Me: "You too."
Now, the reasons that I declined to have her return are:
This is one reason why I value reading and studying the Bible so highly - for the defense of my faith. If an evolutionist wants to defend their views, they will refer to Darwin. If a Communist wants to defend their views, they will refer to the Communist Manifesto. If a Christian wants to defend their faith, they will use refer to the Bible.
Of course, this door-to-door recruiting was not the ideal situation for a conversation (since they were on a time constraint, they had a set agenda of what they wanted to accomplish, and I was still a bit tired). I respect the ladies' attempts to speak to me and will give them credit for having the courage to talk to so many people, even though what they were trying to pass off what they believe as true Christianity is incorrect. However, I don't feel that this is a particularly effective way of reaching out to people.
I will defend Canada's religious freedoms and the right for people to have conversations like this. However, I much more enjoy talking and reasoning with people in informal settings. Belief in God is not best demonstrated through arguments and debates, but rather through loving one another and setting an example.
I opened the front door to see two old ladies there, easy in their late 60's or early 70's. I knew exactly what was up. The lady at the front began to ask me some questions. (For the sake of brevity and clarity, I've omitted much of the pleasantries and banter that took place.)
Her: "Hello there! How are you doing?"
Me: "Well, I'm doing pretty well today, thanks."
Her: "Excellent. I don't think we've seen you before. Are you a university student?"
Me: {Do you have a photo directory of every person you visit?} "Yes, actually."
Her: "Oh, I love talking with university students. In fact, do you mind if I share a verse from the Bible with you? It's one I love sharing with students."
Me: {This will be interesting!} "Sure."
Now, this was my first time dealing with JW's during one of their door-knocking campaigns, and I was curious to know what their game plan would be.
She opened her Bible to John 17:6 in the New World Translation (the JW's incorrect translation of the Bible), which quotes Jesus as saying, "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world..." (NWT) (In reviewing my own Bible afterwards, however, I see that this has a different twist from what is in the more accurate NIV.)
Her: "Now, do you know what God's name is?"
Me: "I'm guessing that you're looking for the answer 'Jehovah'?"
She realised that I knew what I was talking about. She showed me a reference in the glossary at the back of her NIV showing that Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God) is translated to Jehovah in English.
Her: "So, you see, it's completely correct for us to use the name Jehovah for God in the Bible. Isn't it great that God loves us so much that he wants us to know His name?"
Me: "I think that's nice, but it's more important to have a loving relationship with God than to know what His precise name is."
Her: "What version of the Bible do you read?"
Me: "The NIV."
She rifled through her purse, looking amongst the many books in there for a Zondervan NIV. She had me inspect the binding to make sure that it was, in fact, the translation that I just indicated to her. She then began using it for some of the verses that she showed to me, and used her own NWT for others.
She showed me a few more verses about the name of God, including a corruption of the Lord's Prayer, which read "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified." (NWT, compare to NIV). She then moved on to the fact that Jesus was born of God.
Her: "What do you think about that?"
Me: "That Jesus is God's son? Well, according to John 1, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' It's like the Nicene Creed, which says that Jesus was begotten of the Father, of the same substance, and not born."
Her: "Well, if you look at John 1, you it says, 'In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.' (NWT) So you see, Jesus is a god separate from the Father."
Me: "But you're using a mistranslation of the Bible, so it's not accurate to say that Jesus was 'a god'; he was God from the beginning of time."
She could easily tell that I was not convinced.
Her: "What would be a good time to come back and talk with you about this?"
Me: "I'd prefer it if you didn't come back."
Her: {set back} "But I thought we were having a good conversation."
Me: "If you were to bring back a copy of the NWT for me to read through, I'd be more than happy to read it on my own."
Her: "But if you don't want to talk with us, then why would you want to have a copy?"
Me: "If you give me a copy, I will take a look at it."
Her: "Well, thank you for your time. It was nice talking with you."
Me: "You too."
Now, the reasons that I declined to have her return are:
- When she returns, it will probably not be with her friend who was still mastering English; it will be with a higher-ranking fellow of her congregation, who will be much more knowledgeable in JW and NWT belief,
- I don't have time to deal with this, with final assignments and exams coming up, and
- I feel that this is a fairly ineffective way of talking about religion. I'm probably not going to convince her of anything, and she is definitely not going to convince me to convert.
This is one reason why I value reading and studying the Bible so highly - for the defense of my faith. If an evolutionist wants to defend their views, they will refer to Darwin. If a Communist wants to defend their views, they will refer to the Communist Manifesto. If a Christian wants to defend their faith, they will use refer to the Bible.
Of course, this door-to-door recruiting was not the ideal situation for a conversation (since they were on a time constraint, they had a set agenda of what they wanted to accomplish, and I was still a bit tired). I respect the ladies' attempts to speak to me and will give them credit for having the courage to talk to so many people, even though what they were trying to pass off what they believe as true Christianity is incorrect. However, I don't feel that this is a particularly effective way of reaching out to people.
I will defend Canada's religious freedoms and the right for people to have conversations like this. However, I much more enjoy talking and reasoning with people in informal settings. Belief in God is not best demonstrated through arguments and debates, but rather through loving one another and setting an example.